AUSTRIA: OPEC LIFTS OIL SUPPLY QUOTAS BY ONE MILLION BARRELS A DAY IN RENEWED BID TO FORCE DOWN HIGH CRUDE PRICES

Record ID: 344975

  • Title: AUSTRIA: OPEC LIFTS OIL SUPPLY QUOTAS BY ONE MILLION BARRELS A DAY IN RENEWED BID TO FORCE DOWN HIGH CRUDE PRICES
  • Date: 15th September 2004
  • Summary: (U6) VIENNA, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 15, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE / REPORTERS 0.05 2. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OMAR IBRAHIM, OPEC SPOKESMAN, SAYING: "The conference has decided to raise the OPEC production ceiling, excluding Iraq, by 1 million barrels per day to 27 million barrels per day with effect from November 1, 2004 in order to bring prices down for to a more sustainable level, while at the same time vigilantly monitoring market developments." 0.32 4. WS: REPORTERS 0.36 5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OPEC SECRETARY GENERAL AND CONFERENCE PRESIDENT PURNOMO YUSGIANTORO, SAYING: "It is very, very difficult for the time being to see what is really the proper price for OPEC and proper price for the non-OPEC and for the consumers. But, what we would like to see is that the price goes down. Our policy is to increase one million barrels per day with the hope that the price will keep declining to a level that is appropriate for the producers and the consumers." 1.06 6. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 1.12 7. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OPEC SECRETARY GENERAL AND CONFERENCE PRESIDENT PURNOMO YUSGIANTORO, SAYING: "What we see in the global market today - there is oversupply. Right now we are looking at about 2'5 million barrels of oil oversupply on the oil market. So, the oil is there, but why is the price high? There has got to be something that holds the prices high and its not fundamentals, because we have oversupply. That is what we call a political premium of the non-fundamentals that cause the price to be 10 to 15 $ above the trend if you look at the fundamentals." 1.49 8. VARIOUS OF PRESS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) 2.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
  • Country: Austria
  • Reuters ID: LVA9D11EF1SRRET6NIK0V96Z1X0W
  • Story Text: OPEC lifts oil supply quotas by one million barrels
    a day in a renewed bid to force down stubbornly high crude
    prices.


    The conference has decided to raise the OPEC
    production ceiling, excluding Iraq, by 1 million barrels
    per day, by 4%, to 27 million barrels per day with effect
    from November 1, 2004 in order to bring prices down for to
    a more sustainable level, while at the same time vigilantly
    monitoring market developments, a spokesman for OPEC told
    news conference in Vienna after the meeting.

    The pact is designed to underscore the intent among the
    Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to exert
    downward pressure on prices that last month neared $50 a
    barrel.

    But the new deal is expected to make little difference
    to actual supply flows because OPEC is already pumping
    almost flat out.

    With prices failing to react, and certainly showing no
    sign yet of a serious reversal, the agreement may only
    heighten worries about OPEC's inability to cope with the
    fastest growing oil demand in a generation.

    "It is very, very difficult for the time being to see
    what is really the proper price for OPEC and the proper
    price for the non-OPEC and for the consumers. But, what we
    would like to see is that the price goes down. Our policy
    today is to increase one million barrels per day with the
    hope that the price will keep declining to a level that is
    appropriate for the producers and the consumers,"
    conference president Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters. Traders ignored OPEC and crude traded up 76 cents to
    $45.10 a barrel as a hurricane battered U.S. Gulf oil
    operations and weekly data showed a big fall in U.S. crude
    stocks.

    Officially, output allocations for the group that
    controls half the worlds oil exports go up to 27 million
    barrels a day from November 1. But OPEC is already pumping
    more than that, at 28 million barrels daily, and leading
    producer Saudi Arabia has made a commitment to customers to
    keep deliveries high.

    Producers worry that inflated energy costs may hamper
    world economic growth and dent crude demand growth led by
    China's booming economy.

    But there is little evidence yet that rising fuel bills
    costs are slowing growth and investment funds continue to
    bet on oil.

    Saudi Arabia rejected suggestions that it has lost
    control of prices that OPEC says are inflated by $10-$15 a
    barrel over levels warranted by supply-demand fundamentals.

    OPEC output includes a large proportion of
    high-sulphur, or sour, heavy crude but world markets are
    short of transport fuels refined more easily from
    low-sulphur, light grades.

    At least high prices have encouraged producers to
    accelerate plans to bring new oilfields onstream, promising
    to rebuild some spare capacity into a severely stretched
    world supply system.

    Two new fields in Saudi Arabia will be pumping 800,000
    bpd by the end of September, Saudis Naimi said, perhaps
    giving it flexibility above its official 10.5 million bpd
    capacity.

    Kuwait and Algeria also are adding extra volumes so
    before the end of the year of about 300,000 bpd combined,
    their oil ministers said.

    OPEC put off a decision on raising its official $22-$28
    price target. Another meeting is planned for December 10 in
    Cairo to review output policy when a new price target could
    be settled. Some want a $5 increase in a range centred on
    $30 a barrel.



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